The present invention relates in general to hand tools for twisting and manipulating wire. In particular, the present invention relates to a wire-winding device for use in twisting together two strands of fence wire.
When wire fencing is present, such as on a farm or ranch, it frequently becomes necessary to erect new rows or sections of fencing or to repair existing fence sections. In certain instances, the fencing can be secured to a post or rail and such securing can be achieved by the use of tacks, nails or staples. In other instances, one section of fencing may need to be secured to another section of fencing or a single section may need to be repaired. In these instances, when a post or rail is not present, means are needed in order to twist together two strands of wire in order to establish a strong joint. While the two strands may be mutually twisted together, one relative to the other, an equally acceptable technique is to coil one strand about the other strand which remains relatively stationary. The most commonly employed hand tool for wire twisting generally is a pair of pliers; but their gripping and securing capabilities are limited and the resulting joint is often uncertain and unreliable. Further, the use of a pair of pliers for wire twisting is quite awkward and time consuming.
One improvement to the use of pliers has been offered by U.S. Pat. No. 3,297,060 which issued Jan. 10, 1967 to Richardson. The Richardson discloses what is called a "wire splicer," but which is in fact a hand tool for twisting one strand of wire about another strand. This device enables placement of one strand in a longitudinal channel and the other strand in a transverse channel. A ratchet mechanism permits the "other" strand to be wound around the "one" strand while the "one" strand remains stationary within the longitudinal channel.
Unfortunately, the Richardson device is very expensive to manufacture and presents a design complexity far beyond what is necessary in order to accomplish the outlined end-use function. The Richardson device employs a handle which is constructed by riveting together two handle elements separated by a spacer. The internal space between the two handle elements is used to mount a pawl member which acts against ratchet teeth disposed on a cylindrical head which is also positioned between the two handle elements.
It would be an improvement to the Richardson device to construct the handle as a single-piece unit and to configure a ratchet-pawl type of mechanism on one side of the handle, thus reducing the number of parts, device complexity and cost. It is also felt that this improved arrangement would be more reliable and easier to repair due to the fact that all of the component parts would be accessible and easily replaced. The design arrangement disclosed by the present invention provides the improvements and benefits mentioned above as well as others, as will be apparent from the following description.